Hi
Welcome to Morcan Books & Films, the blog devoted to providing a unique perspective and intelligent commentary on books and films. It includes commentary on our own books and films – i.e. novels and screenplays co-written by the Morcans, and feature films produced by, or in development with, Morcan Motion Pictures.
Lance & James
Tall for his age, the good-looking, blond-haired, blue-eyed lad had an eye for the working girls who frequented London’s docks, and he inevitably attracted their attention. He was still inexperienced in matters of the opposite sex, but he vowed he’d do something about that in the next little while.
That’s how I introduce Nicholas Young (above) in an early chapter of my historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel. The 17-year-old medical student is about to be recruited to serve as Surgeon’s Assistant aboard a vessel called the Endeavour.
Excerpt continues:
Early in his first summer in London he struck up a conversation with a Mister Wilkie, the recruiting officer for a vessel called the Endeavour. Wilkie, a short, bald, engaging character with a twinkle in his eye, told him he was charged with the recruitment of crew members for a voyage of discovery.
Nicholas was intrigued – even more so when he learned where His Majesty’s bark, the Endeavour, was going.
“She sets sail soon for Tahiti and on to the bottom of the world,” Wilkie confided. He spoke in that distinctive rural drawl, which identified him as a native of Devon. When pressed for more information by the eager boy, Wilkie said, “The Lords of the Admiralty want us to look for Terra Australis Incognita.”
Nicholas’ brow creased uncomprehendingly.
“The Great Southern Continent,” the recruiting officer explained, warming to his subject.
“You mean New Holland?” Nicholas asked, referring to the newly-discovered continent that would one day be referred to as Australia. He’d overheard chatter about New Holland amongst Jack Tars in the taverns.
“Nay, lad. Our Admiralty and the learned gentlemen of the Royal Society have long held the belief there is a vast tract of land, a veritable continent, far to the east of New Holland and the known world. They want it found, explored and claimed for Mother England.”
*
To celebrate the acceptance of New Zealand: A Novel into Waterstones UK & Europe bookstores, the book’s Kindle version will be FREE on Amazon March 15-17 PDT.
When Nicholas Young was appointed Surgeon’s Boy aboard Captain Cook’s bark Endeavour in 1768 homosexuality and drunkenness below deck were among the surprises in store for him – as the following excerpt from the new release historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel shows…
The Endeavour’s surgery was one of the busiest facilities aboard ship. As surgeon’s boy, Nicholas’s shifts involved twelve-hour days every day as well as being on call to assist in the event of an emergency. The seventeen-year-old soon discovered emergencies aboard sailing ships of the day were the rule rather than the exception.
Terrifying mid-Atlantic storms had resulted in a rash of injuries, some serious, and two more lives had been lost before they’d even reached the sanctuary of Rio de Janeiro. Both unfortunates had been swept overboard in mountainous seas. Since then another had died after falling from the rigging.
Many of the mishaps could be attributed to drunkenness. So liberal were the Royal Navy’s rum rations, which were often supplemented illegally through theft and bribery, that many crew members and some officers were constantly drunk.
Nicholas had quickly discovered that alcohol and sailing were not a good mix. He was constantly helping to patch up injured seamen who had over-indulged. Other injuries resulted from fighting, which was all too often another side-effect of excessive drinking.
Brawling, drunkenness and illicit procurement of liquor were punishable by flogging. More than a dozen floggings had been administered so far on the voyage, but not even the cat-of-nine-tails was enough to deter the worst offenders. These were rough men who worked hard and played hard, and Nicholas soon learned he’d entered a world where he had to stand up for himself or risk being bullied.
He learned that homosexuality was another fact of life at sea where men were literally thrown together in the cramped quarters below deck. As the distance separating them from wives and loved-ones lengthened, bunk or hammock-sharing became quite common, and not only below deck. This problem – for that’s how the navy viewed homosexuality – was different to other problems encountered on board in that the top brass scarcely acknowledged it existed. Officially, the hierarchy took a dim view of buggery, as they called it. The offence was punishable by death – and not just in the navy: it was a capital crime in civilian life, too. Unofficially, the navy’s top brass turned a blind eye provided offenders were discreet.
Nicholas often marvelled at how easily happily married family men could turn to other men for sexual relief then just as easily return to their wives’ loving arms on returning to their home port.
Several crew members had made unwanted advances to Nicholas early on in the voyage. He’d quickly discouraged them. On the last occasion – to signal loud and clear what his preferences were – he made an example of the drunken oaf who tried to grope him in front of others in the mess. Evading the man’s clumsy advances, he promptly kicked him in the testicles. While his victim lay temporarily paralyzed on the floor, Nicholas proceeded to force-feed him pickled cabbage and other legumes from the man’s plate until his open mouth could accommodate no more of his unfinished dinner. All this to the wild cheering of some thirty admiring onlookers.
*
New Zealand: A Novel is available via Waterstones UK & Europe bookstores & via Mighty Ape NZ & public libraries. Its Amazon link is:
Researching my new release, historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel, I discovered that Christmas dinner for the crew of the Endeavour on December 25th, 1769, was surprisingly good. That’s according to one logbook entry penned by English botanist Joseph Banks who also alluded to heavy drinking by fellow crewmembers that particular Christmas.
The Endeavour, helmed by Captain James Cook, had anchored off Three Kings Islands, in New Zealand’s Far North, during her circumnavigation of the country. What transpired is covered in the following excerpt from my novel…
The crew spent Christmas Day anchored off Three Kings Islands, a small island group that had been discovered by Abel Tasman. For Christmas dinner, the bark’s company enjoyed a meal that passed as goose pie thanks to the marksmanship of Banks who had shot a good number of gannets the previous day.
The meal was so well received that Banks made mention of it in his diary entry that evening. It read:
“Our goose pye was eaten with great approbation and in the evening all hands were as drunk as our forefathers used to be on such an occasion.”
Cook, who was never one for frivolity, didn’t mention the dinner in his logbook. Nor did he make mention of the sorry state of his men the following day. Banks did mention it, however, stating: “All heads ached with yesterday’s debauchery.”
To celebrate the launch of my epic historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel, it’s free to download on Kindle on Saturday and Sunday December 14 and 15 PST.
New Zealand: A Novel spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Pacific Islanders and Europeans. From the outset the two stories are interposed. It starts in the 1300’s with the departure of Islanders from Hawaiki in search of land far to the south.
The hardy, brown-skinned people who arrive here first call themselves Maori and they call their new home Aotearoa – land of the long, white cloud. The fascinating, eventful and sometimes violent lives of descendants of those first arrivals are traced through the centuries until the arrival of Europeans aboard Captain James Cook’s bark the Endeavour. Cook names the new land New Zealand.
Maoris call the white intruders pakeha. Their arrival heralds a clash of two vastly different ideologies as European civilization collides head on with indigenous culture.
The misunderstandings, tension and bloodshed that follow are relayed as seen through the eyes of one of the Endeavour’s youngest and most engaging crewmembers, Surgeon’s Assistant Nicholas Young, as the vessel embarks on its historic circumnavigation of the country.
Amidst the life-threatening challenges Nicholas faces at sea and on land, the young man finds true love when he meets Anika, a beautiful Maori princess who steals his heart.
*
This novel is also available via Amazon as a paperback and will soon be available as a hardcover and audiobook.
Shrouded in cloud at the bottom of the world, this was the land that time forgot: the last sizeable piece of undiscovered land on Earth. Two hundred million years after breaking away from the vast southern continent of Gondwana, Man had yet to leave his footprints on this prehistoric place.
Mythology would have it the land was fished up out of the ocean. In fact, earthquakes and volcanic activity forced it to literally erupt from the seabed. This violent birth left it with a majestic ruggedness that would always reflect its former turbulence.
Over time, its features softened. Scenes of beauty emerged out of the mists. There was a haunting stillness about the land. It was a place of mystery – of magical forests and sparkling lakes and rivers. And the sea surrounded it like some huge tidal moat.
Its isolation ensured it wouldn’t be until well into the First Millennium AD that Man would step foot on these shores. The hardy, brown-skinned people who arrived here called themselves Maori and they called their new home Aotearoa – land of the long, white cloud.
Not until its rediscovery centuries later by European explorers would the land receive the name by which it is known today: New Zealand. Their arrival would herald a clash of two vastly different ideologies as European civilization collided with indigenous culture.
It was a time of conflict, lust and adventure.
*
You’ve been reading the blurb for New Zealand: A Novel. It’s a tale of treachery, lust and conflict. It spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Pacific Islanders and Europeans. From the outset the two stories are interposed. It starts in the 1300’s with the departure of Islanders from Hawaiki in search of land far to the south.
Attention lovers of books and films…If you subscribe to, or are already a subscriber, of Morcan Books and Films blog and wish to receive an ARC pdf of my soon-to-be-released historical adventure novel, D.M. me or email me at sterlinggatebooks@gmail.com and I’ll forward a pdf of the manuscript to you immediately.
This epic novel will appeal to lovers of historical fiction, historical romance and lovers of adventure novels. It spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Maori and European. It starts in the 1300’s with the departure of Pacific Islanders from Hawaiki in search of land far to the south.
The Kindle ebook and paperback versions of the novel will be published on Amazon before Christmas. Hardcover and audio versions will follow in the New Year.
ARC offer ends December 8th.
–Lance Morcan – Co-author of Into the Americas, White Spirit, The Ninth Orphan and Fiji: A Novel.
Nicholas wasn’t sure what woke him – a sudden flap of the billowing sails perhaps or the curses of a sailor who had tripped on the deck below. Then he saw it. Land! Off to the north-west. Now fully awake, he pushed himself to his feet, shouting, “Land ahoy! Land ahoy!”
His cries were like music to the ears of his crewmates. Cheers went up around the bark as others saw what Nicholas had seen. Some were convinced it must be part of the continent they were searching for. Cook knew better. Instinct told him this was the eastern shoreline of New Zealand, the land whose west coast Abel Tasman had discovered and charted the previous century.
On descending from the crow’s nest, Nicholas collected his extra rum ration. He would later share it around, reinforcing his status as one of the most popular members of the bark’s company.
While the men celebrated, the captain reviewed his written orders. Those orders stipulated that upon reaching the unexplored southern land he was to explore as much of its coast as the condition of his vessel and health of his crew would allow.
#
So unfavourable were the winds, it was two days before the Endeavour was able to close with the coast. The sight that greeted the men was worth the wait as the shoreline was as picturesque as any they had seen in their travels to date. Sunshine pierced the clouds, reflecting off a sandy surf beach. A prominent headland marked the southern entrance to a sheltered bay. Its steep, white cliffs were similar to England’s white cliffs of Dover except for the line of pohutukawa trees that ran along the clifftops. Those same trees would bloom in a little over two months’ time, displaying their scarlet flowers in a festival of colour.
Cook named the headland Young Nick’s Head in recognition of the crewmember who first sighted it.
Standing by the portside rail, the captain studied the headland through his telescope. Manmade structures atop it offered the first sign that the land was inhabited. He was looking at a Maori pa site constructed by one of the region’s native tribes. Its stockades comprised rows of long, pointed poles, giving the headland a fort-like appearance. Behind them were whares, which didn’t appear to be occupied. In front of the stockades were terraces, which accommodated deep manmade trenches. To Cook’s critical eye, the headland looked like it could be easily defended against invaders: it was a natural fortress.
The captain turned his attention to the bay. Satisfied it would offer safe anchorage he lowered his telescope and turned around to look for his bosun Robert Molyneaux. He sighted the Lancashire man standing by the port-side rail. “To shore, Mister Molyneaux, and see that all hands are on deck!”
“Aye, Captain,” the bosun said. “To shore it is.” He hurried off, barking orders as he went, to ensure his master’s orders were carried out.
*
The paperback and Kindle ebook versions of ‘New Zealand: A Novel’ will be published on Amazon before Christmas; the hardcover and audiobook versions will follow in the New Year.
Kafoa scanned the ocean ahead of the double-voyaging canoe that had carried his fellow Islanders, or those of them who had survived at least, so far from their homeland in Hawaiki. Finally, he saw what it was the men had seen.
Low on the horizon, at the limit of the boy’s vision, was a large landmass resting beneath a long white cloud. Studying the distant landmass, he murmured, “Aotearoa.”
His father nodded. “Aotearoa,” Hotu agreed. “Land of the long white cloud.”
Kupe’s land now had a name.
You are reading an excerpt from an early chapter in my soon-to-be-released historical adventure epic ‘New Zealand: A Novel’.
Excerpt continues:
The excitement on board was unrestrained as the landmass now referred to by all as Aotearoa came into clear focus beneath the umbrella of cloud. Everyone who could stand was standing. The only voyagers not on their feet were those too weak to rise from where they lay.
Hotu was now manning the tiller. His heart beat fast. Here at last was Kupe’s land!
Tears filled the rangatira’s eyes and he murmured a prayer of thanks to the spirits of his Hawaikan ancestors. This land, their land, would be his people’s salvation. Of that he was sure.
From around twenty miles out, the land appeared dark and mysterious in the shadow of the cloudbank above it. Forbidding even. The sight had a sobering effect on the voyagers. All conversation ceased as they studied their new homeland.
As the canoe sailed onwards, floundering deeper than ever in the water, the land mass ahead slowly took shape. It was high – higher than the tropical islands of the Pacific – and it was covered in dense, lush, green bush.
Although still too far away to ascertain, the land appeared to be unoccupied, and some sixth sense told Hotu it was. Which meant he and his fellow survivors would be the only people on these shores. He wondered what had become of Kupe’s fellow voyagers all those centuries ago.
*
The paperback and Kindle ebook versions of ‘New Zealand: A Novel’ will be published on Amazon before Christmas; the hardcover and audiobook versions will follow in the New Year.
New Zealand: A Novel, by Lance Morcan, spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Maori and European. It starts in the 1300’s with the departure of Pacific Islanders from Hawaiki in search of land far to the south; it ends in the 1700’s with Captain James Cook’s historic circumnavigation of that same land – a land he calls New Zealand – as seen through the eyes of young crewmember Nicholas Young aboard the bark Endeavour. From the outset the two stories are interposed. The adventures of the descendants of the earliest Maoris are followed down through the centuries, culminating in their often violent, sometimes romantic, always fascinating interactions with the white intruders they call pakehas.
New Zealand… the land that time forgot.
Shrouded in cloud at the bottom of the world, this was the land that time forgot: the last sizeable piece of undiscovered land on Earth. Two hundred million years after breaking away from the vast southern continent of Gondwana, Man had yet to leave his footprints on this prehistoric place.
Mythology would have it the land was fished up out of the ocean. In fact, earthquakes and volcanic activity forced it to literally erupt from the sea bed. This violent birth left it with a majestic ruggedness that would always reflect its former turbulence. The legacy of those fiery beginnings includes still-active volcanoes amidst the mountain chains that dissect the land.
Over time, its features softened. Scenes of beauty emerged out of the mists. There was a haunting stillness about the land. It was a place of mystery – of magical forests and sparkling lakes and rivers.
And the sea surrounded it – like some huge tidal moat.
Its isolation ensured it wouldn’t be until well into the First Millennium AD that Man would step foot on these shores. The brown-skinned people who settled here would call their new home Aotearoa – land of the long, white cloud. Not until its rediscovery centuries later by European explorers would the land receive the name by which it is known today…
New Zealand – aptly named by some as Aotearoa…Land of the long white cloud.
Author’s note:
Target audience for New Zealand: A Novel is adult readers; manuscript word count is 103,000 words. Genres include historical fiction, adventure, romance.
Given the increasing worldwide interest in New Zealand and the fascination over its indigenous people, I believe the timing couldn’t be better for this novel. While it has the lust and violence associated with those pre-European and Colonial times, New Zealand: A Novel has strong themes of love and romance, which will endear it to female readers as well as male.
–Lance Morcan
Excerpt:
The following excerpt from New Zealand: A Novel sees the surviving Hawaikan voyageurs reach their destination at the end of a gruelling six-week journey from their South Pacific homeland.
“I see land!” Rangi shouted triumphantly, leaping to his feet.
“Where?” Hotu demanded.
“There!” the excited navigator said, pointing directly southwest.
Kafoa was wide awake now. He pushed himself to his feet and squeezed between the two men, searching the horizon for a glimpse of land.
Hotu said, “Yes! I see it!”
Rangi adjusted the tiller until the canoe pointed slightly more to the west.
Others gathered around, aroused by the sudden commotion.
Kafoa strained his eyes, but could see only sky and ocean. “Where is it?” he implored. “I cannot see anything!”
Hotu smiled. “Look for the signs and you will see it.”
Kafoa scanned the horizon, looking for any one of the signs he had memorised by heart. He absentmindedly massaged the stub of the extra small finger on his left hand as he studied the sea and sky around him. Finally he saw what the men had seen. Low on the horizon, at the limit of his vision, was a large landmass resting beneath a long white cloud. Studying the distant landmass, he murmured, “Aotearoa.”
Hotu nodded. “Aotearoa,” he agreed, “land of the long white cloud.”
Kupe’s land now had a name.
#
The excitement aboard Ronui was unrestrained as the landmass now referred to by all as Aotearoa came into clear focus beneath the umbrella of cloud. Everyone who could stand was standing. The only voyagers not on their feet were those too weak to stand.
Hotu was now manning the tiller. His heart beat fast. Here at last was Kupe’s land! Tears filled his eyes and he murmured a prayer of thanks to the spirits of his Hawaikan ancestors. This land, their land, would be his people’s salvation. Of that he was sure.
From around twenty miles out, the land appeared dark and mysterious in the shadow of the cloudbank above it. Forbidding even. The sight had a sobering effect on the voyagers. All conversation ceased as they studied their new homeland.
Hotu glanced down at Kafoa who hadn’t left his side since the first sighting. Overcome with love for the boy, he reached down and ruffled his hair yet again. Kafoa looked up and smiled at the father he idolised.
As Ronui sailed onwards, floundering deeper than ever in the water, the land mass ahead slowly took shape. It was high – higher than the tropical islands of the Pacific – and it was covered in dense, lush, green bush.
Although still too far away to ascertain, the land appeared to be unoccupied, and some sixth-sense told Hotu it was. Which meant he and his fellow survivors would be the only people on these shores. He wondered what had become of Kupe’s fellow voyagers all those centuries ago.
Hotu’s mind returned to the present and he realised the bigger question was what had happened to Ra and the others aboard Tautira. He prayed they were safe.
#
By mid-afternoon, the clouds lifted and Aotearoa was bathed in brilliant sunshine.
The Hawaikans were close to shore now. They scrutinised every feature of their new land. Ahead of them breakers crashed against impressive white cliffs that rose straight out of the sea. The clifftops were fringed by trees whose distinctive flowers blazed scarlet under the summer sun. Kafoa thought it likely the branch that was recovered from the sea came from one of those very trees.
Hotu was anxious to find a suitable landing place before nightfall. It was the ever-vigilant Rangi who brought his attention to a bay slightly to the north of where they were heading.
“Over there!” the navigator said, pointing to a crescent-shaped bay.
“Uh,” Hotu confirmed, steering the canoe toward the bay. A prominent headland at the bay’s southern end guarded the entrance to it.
The rocky shoreline gave way to a white-sand surf beach. Calm water and only the faintest of breezes aided an uneventful beaching. After such a long and dramatic voyage, the landing seemed almost an anti-climax to the exhausted survivors.
Kafoa was first to disembark, jumping from the canoe into the shallows. In a few strides he was standing above the high tide mark on the beach, his hunger pangs and tiredness forgotten for the moment. One by one, the other survivors joined him.
The descendants of Kupe had come home.
Hotu prayed that Ra and the others aboard Tautira had also arrived safely. He had no way of knowing they would soon land on a similar beach several hundred miles to the north.
It would be two centuries before the descendants of these separated peoples would meet, and when they did, it would not be as friends but as mortal enemies.
The Hawaikans survived daunting odds to reach Aotearoa circa 1300 AD.
Captain Cook’s bark the Endeavour off New Zealand’s coast (above) and an adaptation of Cook’s map of New Zealand (below).
Morcan Books & Films 